1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an ink container and more specifically to an ink container with an elastic deformation device.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Please refer to FIG. 1. FIG. 1 is a diagram of a prior art ink container 10 with an ink adjusting room 15. FIG. 1 is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,764,259. An ink container 10 comprises an ink reservoir 12 for storing ink, a negative regulating chamber 5 being connected to external air, and a buffer chamber 15 being connected to the external air and the ink reservoir 12. The negative regulating chamber 5 absorbs the external air through an air vent 8. A slab 18 set above the negative regulating chamber 5 is used to change a volume of the negative regulating chamber 5 by a weight of the slab 18, so that pressure within the ink reservoir 12 is adjusted. Furthermore, when the negative regulating chamber 5 expands to a maximum such that the negative regulating chamber 5 can not be used to change volume to adjust the pressure within the ink reservoir 12, the external air flows into the ink reservoir 12 through an air vent 16 and a connecting vent 25 to decrease the pressure within the ink reservoir 12.
When ink within the ink reservoir 12 stops flowing out of the ink container 10 through an ink outlet 21, pressure outside the ink container 10 decreases, the negative regulating chamber 5 is pressed, and ink within the ink reservoir 12 is allowed to flow into the buffer chamber 15 through the connecting vent 25, so that the ink within the ink reservoir 12 can not unexpectedly flow out of the ink outlet 21 because of the low external air.
Nevertheless, the buffer chamber 15 and the connecting vent 25 are set below a water line. If the connecting vent 25 is too big in a manufacturing process, ink of the ink reservoir 12 is allowed to flow into the buffer chamber 15, when filled with water, then flow out of the ink container 10 through the air vent 16.
It is therefore a primary objective of the present invention to provide an ink container with an elastic deformation device set above an ink reservoir for avoiding ink within the ink reservoir flowing out of the ink container.
The present invention discloses an ink container with an elastic deformation device. The ink container includes an ink reservoir for storing ink, a cover set above the ink reservoir for forming an ink adjusting room with a top portion of the ink reservoir, an ink outlet for providing ink within the ink reservoir, and an elastic deformation device set within the ink reservoir. The elastic deformation device is connected to the gap of the ink reservoir to accept external air into the elastic deformation device. When the pressure within the ink reservoir is lower than a pressure of external air, the external air flowing into the elastic deformation device of the ink container causes the elastic deformation device to expand. When the pressure within the ink reservoir is higher than the pressure of the external air, the elastic deformation device shrinks to have an outwardly overlapping wall with a folding shape in order to balance the pressure of the external air with the pressure of the ink reservoir.
It is an advantage of the present invention that the ink container utilizes the elastic deformation device with a self-elasticity to adjust the pressure within the ink container. Furthermore, the ink adjusting room of the ink container is set on a top portion of the ink reservoir, so that when ink flows into the ink adjusting room, an air vent does not allow the ink to flow out of the ink container.
These and other objectives and advantages of the present invention will no doubt become obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art after reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment that is illustrated in the various figures and drawings.